Archive | Student Loans

The time for agonizing is over. It’s college decision day which means the parents of high school seniors have little time left before they must put down their college deposits. As the deadline loomed, I heard from families, who were stressed about their decisions and, in some cases, how they were going to pay the […]

If you possess excellent credit and intend to pay down a college loan fairly aggressively, taking out a private college loan can make sense. People with sterling credit can get better interest rates going this route than with the federal Parent PLUS Loan. Here are eight things to know about private college loans: 1. Check […]

On my college blog this week, I’ve been focusing on what you need to know about borrowing for college. If you missed them, my previous two posts shared advice on federal student and parent loans: What You Need to Know About Borrowing for College How Parents Can Borrow for College Today I’m exploring private college […]

Are you a parent who needs to borrow for college? Most of the attention is focused on college loans that students take out, but there are parent loans as well. In case you missed it, I wrote about federal student loans in my last college blog post: What You Need to Know About Borrowing for […]

As recently as the early 1990s, most students did not take out college loans. Today about two out of every three students borrow to pay for college. One reason for the dramatic change is this fact: during the last-quarter century, tuition has risen four times faster than the consumer price index. The typical student borrower […]

Yesterday’s post, which explored the school options of a brilliant teenager from Wisconsin, generated many insightful comments from parents. Here is the post: Should a Kid Borrow $80,000 for a Brand-Name University? If you missed the post or the comments, I’d urge you to check both out. To summarize, the teenager managed to get admitted […]

I am sharing an email that I received Tuesday from a Wisconsin mom, who is stressed about the admission decision that her teenage son must make by May 1. What follows is a cautionary tale for any families which have not been through the college admission process yet. Read on to discover how to avoid […]

When you appeal a college’s financial aid award what happens to your request? During the last admission season, The Chronicle of Higher Education provided an inside glimpse into how a financial aid appeal is handled internally in a fascinating article entitled: When Families Ask Colleges for More Money A Chronicle reporter observed financial aid deliberations […]